Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s Monster Win Over New Orleans

BOX SCORE

Oklahoma State thumped New Orleans on Wednesday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena 117-72 to push Brad Underwood to his 92nd win his career and hit the 100-point mark for the third straight outing (more on that in a minute).

Leyton Hammonds led all scorers with 15 points and had 14 boards as well. There were five (!) other Cowboys in double figures as well. Jawun Evans posted a 13-1-8-1 line. It was a bloodbath in GIA on Wednesday as the Pokes torched the best of OSU’s first three quizzes (according to KenPom.com) because I’m not willing to call them tests (those come next week in Maui).

It was an encouraging ending to a quick three-game home stand before they go wheels up to Hawaii on Friday morning. Here are our five thoughts on the game.

Ball Movement

The Cowboys actually played the type of offense we’ve been looking for. Guys were moving and they were finding the open man. They got 22 assists to just 10 turnovers. They came in averaging 17.5 assists so this was a win. And some of those turnovers came in garbage time. As a result of spreading the ball out, we saw six (!) OSU players score double digits.

Forte’s Efficient Night

As a result of better ball movement Phil Forte took just five three pointers. I’m not saying he shouldn’t chuck it but in the first two games he averaged 9.5 attempts per game, going 6 for 19. His ultra-efficient 3 of 5 helped the Cowboys shoot 44 percent from behind the arc.

Volume Shooting

While we’re talking about shooting, I thought Bryndon Manzer brought up a good point on the broadcast. Brad Underwood wants to be a volume shooting team. How do you become a volume shooting team? You get offensive boards and turnovers.

OSU got 15 offensive boards (to just eight for New Orleans) and forced 21 turnovers. As a result, it took 11 more shots and 15 more free throws than the Privateers. That’s going to win you some ball games. Especially when these guys are letting it fly.

Waters with the THREE!

Timeout on the court. Oklahoma State leads 36-12 with 11:03 left in the half. #okstate https://t.co/xQfgbKV8Jy

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) November 17, 2016

Turnovers, Turnovers, Turnovers

Central Arkansas turnover percentage on Monday: 16 percent

New Orleans turnover percentage on Wednesday: 23 percent

Turnover percentage is simply the percentage of possessions you turn it over.

That’s been the name of the game for Underwood in his career — he was top 10 nationally in that category at SFA in each of his three seasons. He has Oklahoma State off to a solid start thus far this year and inside the top 40 nationally. That’s a stat to keep an eye on throughout the year as it is directly related to the volume shooting Manzer discussed.

Defense is the best kind of offense ??

Cowboys up 28-12 with 12:35 left in the half! #okstate https://t.co/pkvrEA5KF8

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) November 17, 2016

Davon Dillard Sighting

After two DNPs, Brad Underwood let Dillard loose on the Privateers. In ten minutes he put up seven points on 3 of 4 shooting and grabbed a couple of rebounds. He had an impressive one-hand transition dunk and an old-fashioned three point play that should both be on the Cowboys’ next promo video.

Dillard was also active on the defensive end. He showed energy and used his size and even had a couple deflections. When you see the potential and how physically skilled he is, you have to wonder what he needs to do to see the court. There is most certainly a reason. After the Cowboys’ season-opener, Brad Underwood alluded to a possible issue in practice. Who knows? Let’s just hope he’s figured it out and can realize his talent with the Cowboys sooner rather than later.

Here’s the full box score.

Other notes

• I love Brandon Averette. He’s dog. Him and Cam McGriff are dogs (technically, McGriff is the Crime Dog, but you know what I mean). Averette is going to be a great backup point guard for Jawun throughout the year and could develop into a solid starter later in his career. He’s lightning. I know he didn’t shoot it tonight, but I don’t care. You can’t teach the stuff he does.

• This seems good.

??? pic.twitter.com/PZcKJPOkUW

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) November 17, 2016

• I love Underwood going nuclear with a 45-point lead and three minutes left. Just chewing asses for giving up easy layups. He’s got some Eddie in him which will obviously be beloved over the years.

• I expected more from Buddy Hield and Anthony Davis in NO.

• The Cowboys reached the 100-point mark in three straight games for just the second time in school history. The last time that happened? The 1993-1994 season.

• Leyton Hammonds had just the second double-double of his career.

• This was amazing.

Some nights you LITERALLY can't miss!

Cowboys up 100-60 with 7:19 to go. #okstate https://t.co/HfLsdb9dF3

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) November 17, 2016

Conclusion

Oklahoma State beat the best team it played at home (of three REALLY bad teams) by nearly 50. I am encouraged by this. The buckets seem to come easier than they did under Travis Ford. The question will be whether you can continue to get turnovers at an extremely high clip like OSU did against Campbell and New Orleans. If so, the Pokes should be feisty in Maui.

Up Next

UConn on Monday night at the Maui Invitational (8 p.m.)